


The Love Lasts So Long

by agoodpersonrose



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Angst with a Happy Ending, Best Friends, Childhood Friends, Flashbacks, Friends to Lovers, High School, Inspired by Taylor Swift, M/M, Reunions, Slow Burn, Snapshots, friends to strangers to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 22:33:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28696251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agoodpersonrose/pseuds/agoodpersonrose
Summary: “Shit, David, I’m so sorry, I--”David looks up into the eyes of Patrick Brewer.David and Patrick are childhood friends who reunite on the streets of New York, and look back on their relationship together.Loosely inspired by the song 'Seven' by Taylor Swift.
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Comments: 47
Kudos: 187





	The Love Lasts So Long

**Author's Note:**

> _Please picture me in the weeds,_   
>  _Before I learned civility._   
>  _I used to scream ferociously_   
>  _Any time I wanted._

“David Rose?”

David snaps his gaze up from his phone at the sound of his name and immediately walks straight into the person who had spoken. His caramel macchiato falls to the floor, but he thankfully has the quick wit to save his phone from its impending fate, juggling it between his hands for a moment before finally grabbing onto it and holding it tight.

“Fuck!”

“Shit, David, I’m so sorry, I--”

David looks up into the eyes of Patrick Brewer.

***

_“Are you okay?”_

_David pushes his body further into the wall and digs his head between his knees, retreating away from the gentle voice._

_It’s his first day at kindergarten and he’d thought he was ready. He was so excited to finally meet new people and make new friends; his parents had been a little distracted lately, but his mother had promised that he would be a ‘very popular juvenile amongst all his peers’._

_As soon as David had stepped into the classroom, however, he’d found himself unable to let go of Adelina’s sleeve. Adelina was kind as always, but firm; firmer that he would have liked in these circumstances._

_“You have to go to school, Mr David. How else will you learn how to be a man?”_

_David had decided that he didn’t want to be a man if it meant he had to leave the warmth of Adelina’s lap. But she had made his decision for him, and in a brief moment of distraction, had disappeared, leaving him alone in the chaotic room._

_“Are you scared?” the voice comes again. Won’t leave him alone to hide in his corner._

_Curiosity gets the better of him, and David peeks up from behind his arms to find another boy; with light brown hair and a smudge of blue paint on his cheek standing in front of him and smiling._

_“I’m not scared,” he mumbles, even as he hides his face back in his Dolce & Gabbana children’s jeans and tries to blink away overwhelmed tears. _

_There’s a shuffling, and then the boy is sat next to him. “I was scared when I first got here but look! They have a painting station, and you can paint things!”_

_David glances over at said table just as another child knocks over a pot of red paint, spilling it over everyone else’s work in the process. A classroom assistant immediately starts damage control but David’s nose wrinkles at the sight._

_“I don’t want to do that.”_

_“Okay,” the boy says, unphased. “What do you want to do?”_

_David shrugs._

_“Okay. Do you want to come and play dress up with me?”_

_There’s a pause where David tries to think of a response, but then he’s turning his head to look and the boy and smiling just slightly. “Okay but we have to be careful with my clothes because Moira says they’re very expensive and should not be damaged._

_The smile he receives in response is blinding. “Who is Moira?”_

_“She’s my Mom.”_

_The boy nods solemnly. “I don’t know what my Mom is called,” he says after a moment. “But my name is Patrick. What do you want me to call you?”_

_“David.”_

***

“God, I’m so sorry, David,” Patrick is saying as he pulls tissues out of nowhere and wipes at David’s hands. Fortunately, his sweater seems to have avoided the brunt of the mess now covering the sidewalk, splashing up onto Patrick’s midrange denim jeans.

“Patrick--” David breathes, unable to put a coherent thought together at the sudden sight of a dimpled smile and those familiar brown eyes.

“You’ve not got a burn, or anything have you? Because I can take you to an emergency room, my rental car is just down the street, I can take you--”

Patrick is rambling, and it’s so endearing, because this is a man who could never be shamed for anything in his youth. Was never embarrassed or flustered in the ways David always seemed to be.

But it’s _Patrick,_ and he’s offering to help David, the way he always did. Promising to take him away, and protect him, and it’s _Patrick._

***

_The pattering on the window makes David think for a moment that it has started to rain. That would be perfect, he muses, as he sulks in the corner of his huge bedroom. The rain would match his mood exactly._

_But then it stops. And then it starts again. Then, there is an almighty -thunk- as something else hits his window and finally convinces David to pull aside the long velvet curtain and peer outside._

_It’s Patrick, and he’s stood on the lawn of the huge Rose house, between the statue of Medusa and the water fountain lined with Grecian marble. He has another stone in his hand, ready to throw, but drops it at the sight of David._

_“What are you doing?” David asks when he sticks his head out of the heavy window._

_“Come on, David,” Patrick’s hushed voice replies. “Bring a bag.”_

_So, David packs his favourite sweaters into his mother’s brown bag which he’d stolen from the wardrobe to play with the week before. He makes it as tidy as a six-year-old can, folding with neat care and toeing on his shoes._

_He sneaks down the stairs easily, the house is too distracted by the new baby to wonder what the eldest son is doing. Soon enough, he has slipped out the back door (or ‘servant’s entrance’ according to his mother’) and is wrapped in the arms of his best friend._

_“What are you doing here?”_

_“We’re running away,” Patrick replies, like it’s just that simple._

_“But- Why?”_

_“You’ve been sad all week, David. I thought this would make you feel better?”_

_David allows a small smile to grow on his face. “It does, but why are you coming?”_

_Patrick frowns at him as if he’s being ridiculous and says in the most sombre voice; “I would never leave you on your own, David.”_

_David nods slowly, the grin growing at the sheer excitement of it all. “Where are we going first?”_

_They wander down the lane towards the woods, thankfully passing nobody in the streets who would be alarmed by the appearance of two children wandering along, not a care in the world. They reach the edge of the trees and David stumbles, but Patrick catches him and hauls him back up to his feet._

_They find the fallen tree after a few minutes of walking and decide to settle in for the night. It’s cold, and the rain has started, though the trees protect them from the worst of the downpour._

_David is shivering now; his Givenchy coat doesn’t offer much protection and while Patrick is better off in his dark blue hiking coat, the bitter chill is soaking in as they sit together on the wood._

_“Are you okay?” Patrick asks after a while._

_David shrugs sadly. “I don’t know. I just- They don’t even look at me anymore. It’s all about her. I don’t see what all the fuss is about, all she does is cry, and smell bad, and stare.”_

_Patrick puts his arm around David and pulls him closer, and David leans into it, enjoying the familiar scent of the Brewers washing powder, and play-dough._

_“I just wish I was important,” David says quietly, so quietly he almost hopes Patrick won’t hear it, but he does, and he pulls him closer._

_“You are important, David. You’re my best friend, and we’re going to be together forever, and you’ll never be on your own.”_

_David nods, sniffing snottily but of course neither of them thought to bring tissues. They settle into the crease of the rotting tree; Patrick’s arm around David’s shoulders all the while, and listen to the wind rustling through the leaves, and the pattering of rain that hasn’t quite reached them yet._

_The next thing David knows, he’s being shaken to consciousness, and looking up into the blue eyes of Clint Brewer. “Come on, son, up you get--”_

_Clint pulls David up and into his arms, and David looks over his shoulder to see Patrick’s Uncle Henry holding Patrick in the same fashion. They crunch over leaves and twigs in the direction of Patrick’s house, away from the cold halls of his own home, where nobody will have noticed his absence, he’s sure._

_“Oh, you silly boys, you must be chilled to the bones.” Marcy’s fussing starts as soon as they are through the front door. Hot drinks are thrust into their hands, and blankets are retrieved, and David finds himself wrestled into Patrick’s bed, top to toe, under the warm sheets._

_“Feeling a little lonely-- Called the Roses, they already know-- Were worried sick, will come and get him in the morning-- Let them sleep it off--”_

_“David?” Patrick’s voice comes from the other side of the bed._

_“Yeah?”_

_“I’m sorry we couldn’t run away together.”_

_“It’s okay,” David mumbles, grabbing at Patrick’s foot next to his head and tugging it slightly, earning a tired giggle. “We’ll do it one day.”_

***

“What are you doing here?”

Patrick goes red, his pale complexion not having changed in the years since they last saw each other. David watches his ears tinge scarlet and tries not to laugh at the subtle reminder of home.

“Well, I- I was in the neighbourhood.”

David frowns slightly. “Doing what?”

Patrick looks down at his awful hiking boots, scuffing them on the tarmac awkwardly. “I heard your gallery was just down this street and I thought I might go and have a look at it. Maybe.”

David’s heart rate speeds up and suddenly he feels lightheaded. “You were coming to see me?”

“I- Just- Kind of, well- Um--”

“Are you here on holiday or--?”

Patrick opens his mouth only to let out a number of even more unintelligible noises, before snapping it shut again. He screws his eyes up and rubs his hand over his face.

“I promise I was intending on being a lot clearer than this I just- Can I buy you a coffee? To replace the one that I’ve just made you spill everywhere?”

David thinks blithely of the empty apartment waiting for him. Of Sebastien’s smell on his furniture still despite having left three days ago in a flurry of excuses and hairspray. Of the day-old Chinese food that he was intending on heating up for dinner.

Suddenly coffee sounds like the best suggestion he’s heard all week.

“Um, I know a place just down the road? If you wanted to head there now?”

Patrick seems to agree.

***

_Patrick jumps out from behind the curtains surrounding David’s Queen sized four poster bed. He brandishes the cardboard sword over his head and screams bloody murder as he tackles David to the floor in a pile of squirming limbs._

_“Aye aye, matey! Our Captain’s caught himself a shark!” Patrick exclaims, straddling David’s waist and crowing his success._

_“I am not a fish!” David yells back, wiggling out from under him and finally pushing him out of the way. He grabs his own cardboard sword from off the floor and hits Patrick on the head with it. “And I’m the Captain!”_

_“No, David, you don’t have the experience to be Captain,” Patrick insists._

_“Well, I’m older.”_

_“You don’t have the sea legs.”_

_“I do too--!” David’s sentence is cut off as Patrick kicks him lightly around the back of the knees, causing his legs to buckle and for him to fall backwards onto the pile of cushions that had already been expelled from the bed. “You’re going to pay for that Patrick Brewer!”_

_“Not if you can’t catch me first!”_

_With that, Patrick turns on his heel and sprints out of the door, barely avoiding knocking into Adelina, David hot on his heels all the while. They run down the main staircase yelling all the way, until David finally catches up and knocks him to the ground in the foyer, on the patterned Japanese rug Mrs Rose had spent a fortune on._

_Patrick is laughing manically as they tumble together on the floor, until a small female voice joins in. “I wanna join! I wanna join!”_

_David’s mood immediately sours, and he sits on the ground with his arms crossed petulantly. “Go away, Alexis.”_

_“David,” the girl, barely older than four whines, hanging off her brother’s arms. “Let me have a go.”_

_“No!”_

_“Oh, come on, David. Let her have a turn,” Patrick suggests. He hands her his cardboard sword and bows to her, picking up David’s and gently matching her swing for swing._

_David watches from his place on the floor, looking grumpy all the while. He finally gets sick of being left out and makes a loud huffing noise. “Why does she have to ruin everything?”_

_“David, don’t be cruel to your sister--”_

_Patrick is clearly startled by David’s parent’s arrival in the room. He straightens up and stops what he’s doing, allowing Alexis to hit him several times on the body as he looks up at the intimidating figures._

_Alexis is unphased and rushes over to their parents as soon as she spots them there, stopping just before she can put her dirty hands on their clean clothes._

_“You’ll be a heartbreaker yet, dear,” Moira says, bending down to poke her lightly on the nose; the only affection she will willingly give her children once she is dressed up for a night on the town. “We’d better keep an eye on you.” Alexis giggles happily at the compliment._

_David makes a face of disgust at this comment and looks between his sister and Patrick with narrowed eyes. “I didn’t think you were going out tonight?” he asks in a low voice, as he takes note of the fine regalia that can only signal a party or gathering of some sort._

_“Yes, well, Mommy and Daddy have very hectic social lives, dear. I am remorseful if we failed to mention it before.”_

_David takes in the sight of his mother’s glittering jewels, and well-tended wig with a bitter sniff and nods. “But you’re still coming to the show tomorrow, right?”_

_His parents stare at him blankly._

_“The play? Peter Pan? Patrick’s the main role!” David whines, almost embarrassed at his parents showing their blatant lack of care in front of Patrick, even though he knows full well what they’re like at this point._

_“Ah, well, we didn’t think it was a necessity for the parents of the child’s friend need attend,” Moira excuses herself with a wave of the hand._

_“David’s in it too, he’s one of the pirates. We have a sword fight at the height of the action!” Patrick says excitedly, though he is polite all the while._

_Johnny and Moira look at each other for a moment. “Then of course, we will try our upmost to be there and support you in your performance!”_

_The conversation is clearly over, and the front door slams behind them, leaving an empty echo in its wake._

_“Don’t worry, David. Mom and Dad will be there to see it, and Adelina said she would come,” Patrick says, moving over to put his arm around David’s shoulder._

_“And me! And me, David!” Alexis exclaims, jumping up and down clumsily._

_Patrick grins at her and nudges David as if to prove something. “Yeah, I guess,” he mumbles, letting a small smile escape as Patrick continues to poke at him. “Okay.”_

***

“Can I get a Caramel Macchiato with skim milk, and a tea- Yeah, that’ll do nicely, thank you,” Patrick says to the barista, handing over his credit card and glancing at David with a small, secret smile. “Your coffee order didn’t change did it?”

“No, it didn’t,” David says softly as they wait for the drinks.

When they arrive, Patrick takes charge in adding the sweeteners and cocoa powder at the little self-service booth in the corner before leading them over to a table by the window. The sounds of the city rush past them, buses splashing puddles of water on unsuspecting pedestrians, and yellow cabs dodging around the traffic in all the chaos that can be expected of New York.

Patrick laughs awkwardly as they sit in silence. “It’s been a while, huh?”

“A little bit, yeah,” David nods. “Are you still living in Toronto?”

“Um, no, not anymore. I’ve been moving around a bit. I went home for a while; stayed with my parents, met up with some old high school friends, you know.”

“Anyone doing anything interesting?”

Patrick smiles and shakes his head. “Nothing you would be enthused by, I don’t think. Rachel and Morgan got married, and they’re starting IVF for kids. She wants a house full I think.”

David nods slowly. “Good for her, I’m glad.”

***

_The -thwack- of a ball hitting a bat makes David jump just slightly, but he saves his nachos before he drops them, and sighs in relief as he falls into his seat next to Stevie._

_“Why does he look so mad whenever he hits the ball?” David asks as he chews happily at a mouthful._

_Stevie shrugs and doesn’t look up from her phone._

_“You know, I would have found someone else to sit with if I knew you were going to be such a terrible conversation partner.”_

_“Oh,” Stevie replies, finally looking up. “And who would that have been?”_

_David shrugs and shoves more food in his mouth. Stevie grabs a handful of his chips and shoves them in her mouth too. Patrick hits the ball again, and this time he’s grinning as he runs hard to the first stick, crossing that and reaching the second one before somebody gets the ball and holds it up._

_The crowd cheers happily as Patrick waits there, putting his hand over his face to cover the sun, which he wouldn’t have to do if he had his hat on the right way around. He finds David’s face and waves happily._

_David grins and wiggles his fingers back, watching as Patrick focuses back on the game. Stevie scoffs next to him, but David doesn’t ask for an explanation, knowing that anything that comes out of her mouth will only make him uncomfortable._

_“He’s doing great today, right David?” Rachel asks, having approached from the right without David noticing._

_David nods slightly. “I think so? I’m not that much of sports expert, but I assume he wouldn’t be smiling if he was doing badly?”_

_Rachel lets out a soft tinkling laugh and lingers next to David for a moment._

_“You know- I didn’t mean to- I mean, there was never--” she stutters out. When he turns to look at her, her face is almost the same colour as her hair. “My friends just thought- and I didn’t really want to ask, and he wasn’t interested. But my parents have been bugging me about getting a date to the junior prom, they just want me to have the whole, traditional experience. I didn’t know he had already asked you.”_

_David frowns slightly. “It’s okay, it’s not a big deal,” he says slowly, hearing Stevie scoff again next to him. It had been her that had gotten the brunt of his complaining when he’d heard that Rachel had asked Patrick to prom, so he leaves her be, resolving to have a go at her for it later._

_“I just- If I had known that you two were--”_

_“Oh, we’re not, we just- we had an agreement. When we were little, we always said we’d do the first one together.”_

_Rachel doesn’t look convinced but nods anyway._

_Over on the field, Patrick has somehow already gone back to batting. He hits the ball, and it flies through the air. David holds his breath as he watches him jet off at high speed, running around the bases one after the other, and finally clearing them all._

_They all jump to their feet, clapping. The nachos are abandoned somewhere, probably on the floor, but David is too busy focusing on his best friend, who is swamped in his teammates, sweaty, but looking so pleased with himself he could almost burst._

_“Sorry, excuse me,” David says, pushing past Rachel just slightly to rush down to meet Patrick, who has already started to move towards him._

_“David! Did you see that? I was like -bam!- and then it just -whoosh!- through the air. I’ve never run so fast in my life!”_

_David’s giggling as he wraps his arms around Patrick’s shoulders and hugs him tight, ignoring the sweat on his Valencia sweater for the meantime. Patrick is still yammering on about something into David’s shoulder, but it doesn’t seem to be anything important as he lets himself be man-handled into a tighter embrace._

_“I’m so proud of you,” David says softly, feeling Patrick’s whole body melt slightly in his arms. The whole world drifts away, leaving the two of them, swaying together in the heat of the sun._

***

“Have you heard from Stevie lately?”

David shakes his head and fiddles with his coffee cup. “We had a bit of a falling out a couple months ago, and I haven’t heard from her since. Last I heard she was going to this town called Schitt’s Creek, to take over her Aunt’s motel.”

“What was the falling out about?”

David chews on his lip. “I was kind of dating this guy- He wasn’t particularly nice, to me, or to Stevie. We argued about it and she left in a pretty bad mood with me, rightfully so, really.”

Patrick looks sympathetic but also curious. “This guy… is he still in the picture?” he asks, his voice tight as if he’s nervous about something.

“No- Well, not anymore. Not since recently. Turns out we had different definitions of exclusive--”

“Oh God, I’m so sorry, David.”

“Don’t be, I’m glad to be shot of him. It’s just- you know.”

“Yeah, I know,” Patrick croaks out.

***

_Patrick comes alive like this. Under the heat of the sun, his shirt off as he runs around, splashing David with water from the creek and laughing when he gets annoyed yells in response._

_David is lying back against a towel on a high up rock. His sunglasses are perched neatly on his nose, and a book is in his hands, which he’s pretending to read, while he is actually tracing the freckles down Patrick’s back, and to his sides, disappearing beneath his swimming shorts somewhere unknown._

_“Come on, David, the water’s lovely!” Patrick yells from where he has cannon balled into the water again._

_“I’m alright from up here, thanks!”_

_“David!”_

_“Ugh, what?”_

_“Please? For me?”_

_Patrick has whipped out the classic puppy dog eyes; the wide brown ones, that never fail to convince David to do whatever he asks. The time limit that hangs over them convinces David as well; they’ll be jetting off to different places in a few short weeks. David to New York, to start his Art History course at NYU, while Patrick goes to Toronto to start his business degree._

_When he’d told David this, David had immediately started teasing about braided belts and comb overs, but Patrick had just wrestled him to the floor in retribution and well- there is no better way to get David to shut his mouth than for Patrick to touch him._

_“Fine, but I’m not going in deep.”_

_David stands up and brushes himself off. He pulls off his white t-shirt, throwing it down towards his bag and turning around to find Patrick’s eyes already locked on him._

_Patrick snaps out of whatever he’s thinking of and starts whooping and cheering as David approaches the ledge._

_“You know, I think I might get in from over there, where it’s less steep, and not as deep. A gradual submersion, yes, that’s what I need--”_

_“No, David, come on! Jump in! You know I won’t let anything happen to you.”_

_David makes a deep grunting noise and tips his head back. “Okay,” he says, shaking his hands to try and rid himself of the nervous energy building up beneath his skin. “Okay, just- back up a little.”_

_Patrick does so, wading back in the water so that David has plenty of room._

_“Okay, um--”_

_David wobbles on the edge, pouting down at the water. “David, wait. I’m coming up!”_

_Patrick joins David on the ledge in no time._

_“Together?” he asks, slotting his hand into David’s and gripping him tight._

_“Okay, I can do it together.”_

_Patrick is the one that pulls them, but at the last minute, David jumps too, and they fall together, landing with an almighty -splash- in the cold water of the creek. David gulps for air as soon as his head comes to the surface, pushing wet locks of hair out of his eyes as he breathes out a surprised laugh._

_And then, Patrick is there. His hands are on David’s bare waist under the water, and his hair is in his eyes. He’s grinning brightly as they bob around together in the water._

_“You did it, David. I knew you could, you--”_

_But then David is kissing him. They’re both soaked through, and their chests are bare, and pressed together, the coarse hair of boys straddling their teenage years rubbing together in the dirty water. And Patrick is kissing back; he’s gasping as he opens his mouth against David’s, pushing forward to demand entrance with his tongue, all heat in the frozen water._

_“David,” he murmurs, like a prayer he already knows the answer to. “David--”_

***

“I miss you.”

“Don’t say that,” David pleads.

“David, come on, it’s been- I don’t know how many years now. You’re really going to freeze me out again?”

David just shakes his head, closing his eyes slightly as if to ward off the feelings that are bubbling to the surface, apparently never having left at all. “Stop.”

“Haven’t you missed me? Not at all?”

“Of course I’ve missed you. You think I haven’t missed you?” David asks, his temper rising. “You think I haven’t regretted what happened every single day of my life since. I hated myself for doing that to you, for doing that to us, when we were perfectly fine- When we were happy--”

“That’s where we’re different then, David,” Patrick says, his eyes flashing with something akin to fury as he leans closer over the table. “Because I never regretted a thing about that day. In fact, it’s still one of the happiest days of my life, and I want it back- I don’t want the memory of that day to hurt anymore. I want to be happy when I think about it. Like I was happy then.”

“But you--”

“But I what, David? Kissed you back? Gave you your space? Came to see you before you left- Tried to make it all okay?”

***

_“David, please--?”_

_Patrick is crying, and David is pretty close to it too, as he tries to block out the noise. He’s wheeling the last of his bags down the main staircase to the bottom, where the car is waiting to take him to New York._

_“David, talk to me, please don’t leave me without talking to me about this.”_

_“I said I was sorry a thousand times, Patrick, I don’t know what else you want me to say.”_

_David is suddenly glad that his family have forgotten to come and see him off, pleased that nobody else will be witness to the crumbling of a 15-year-long relationship._

_“I just don’t understand why you won’t talk to me. I just want to talk--”_

_“We’ve talked!” David finally snaps, watching as the driver pulls his case out the front door with nowhere near enough care that the contents deserve. “We’ve talked! And I’ve apologised, and I have said everything that I have to say. It was just a kiss, it doesn't mean anything I just- I don't know why I did it. I didn't mean to change everything, I swear.”_

_“You’ve not listened though, David- You don’t understand--”_

_“Mr Rose? We really should be leaving now if we want to make the flight on time.”_

_David nods and turns back to Patrick. “I have to go. I think we should take a while and just- recuperate and work out where we go from here.”_

_“But, David, we’ll be hundreds of miles apart. I just--”_

_Patrick goes silent as David throws his arms around him, hugging him tight. He returns the embrace slowly, as if his arms are wading through water again like they were--_

_“I’m going to miss you,” David mumbles, feeling Patrick tighten his grip. “I really am sorry, I- You’re my best friend. I never meant to ruin that.”_

_“You didn’t ruin--”_

_“Mr Rose?” the driver seems to be getting impatient now, so David pulls away, sniffing lightly and definitely not wiping away his tears with his Givenchy sweater._

_“Thank you for coming to see me off, Patrick.”_

_Patrick nods wordlessly and follows them out. He walks behind the car out of the main gates and disappears from view. It’s only once they are on the highway that David lets himself cry._

***

David drains his coffee. “That was a long time ago,” he says softly. “Lots of things have changed since then.”

“You haven’t,” Patrick responds easily. “I haven’t.”

He puts his hand palm upwards on the table between them, a silent plea in his eyes. David hesitates but finally he reaches for Patrick, tangling their fingers together on the sticky top of the table.

“If you tell me you don’t feel- anything anymore. If you say you truly don’t want to see me, I’ll go. I’ll leave you alone. But I have been torturing myself for- well, for the last ten years, wondering if there was anything I could have done. Wondering why you wouldn’t return by calls, or texts, or Facebook messages--”

“I actually don’t use Facebook so- I didn’t know about those ones,” David interrupts.

Patrick lets out a breath of air that might be a laugh and nods. “Okay, that- that’s good to know.”

“Did you really fly all the way out here with no warning, to come to my gallery, out of blind hope that I would want to see you?”

Patrick swallows and looks nervous all of a sudden. “Something was missing in my life, David, and I just had to know if you- I had to either close this book or open another chapter. I just want my best friend back.”

David nods. “So, you want it to go back to the way it was before?” he asks quietly.

“No, David. I want it to be better.”

Patrick’s eyes are wide and earnest and so familiar that David immediately believes him. A breathless laugh escapes and he nods, tears welling in his eyes. “Um, do you have a place to stay?”

“Not yet, I was going to get a hotel--”

“Stay with me?”

Patrick widens his eyes, though he doesn’t look put off by the idea.

“I mean- I have a comfy pull-out couch for when Alexis is staying after some international escapade. We could get pizza, and talk more?”

“I’d like that, David.”

Wordlessly, they tidy up their mugs, piling them up for the waitress to collect. As they slip out the front door of the café, David shivers, and Patrick slips his scarf off, wrapping it around his neck. Their hands find each other as they stumble onto the busy New York street, clinging like a lifeline they can’t quite let go of.

They make it about halfway to David’s apartment before Patrick tugs on his arm to stop him. He pulls David to the side of the crowds of pedestrians and without hesitating, puts his hands on either side of David’s face, tugging him down into a kiss.

David makes a sound of surprise against Patrick’s mouth but sinks into it quickly, the familiarity of his hands and lips like a welcome home after all those years.

“What was that for?” David asks breathlessly as he pulls away.

Patrick just shakes his head and smiles, pulling David back in and kissing him again. David doesn’t resist anymore. Patrick tastes of every happy memory they’ve ever had together, and this time he won’t be running away.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed!! Let me know what you thought in the comments!!! 🌸


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